Oh. My. God.
I went to see Shaun of the Dead today with a friend (guy but also great big geek so that's always fun) expecting to see a very good film.
Instead I saw a *fantastic* film.
I'll put in some spoiler space here for those of you who want to see it without knowing details.
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No, really. It just...it transcends its genre. It's funny and horrible and scary and has some really intense pathos that had me tear up at least twice. And the performances were superb! Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilson were the acting heavyweights brought in for the pathos moments but the comedians were just as good - Simon Pegg does sadness so utterly brilliantly, and Nick Frost was great as the (frankly unlovable) Ed. And Dylan Moran got torn to pieces! Which was actually a really horrible moment and very well done, but also satisfying if you know some of the things I do about Mr Moran.
OK, actually it's was mostly just horrible, as it was meant to be. I'm actually humane at heart. No one deserves to get torn to pieces by zombies.
The direction was superb, with some brilliant tracking shots that just worked perfectly and some really cool zombies (I think nearly everyone who appears as an extra in the film normally turned up as a zombie). Plus, the greatest use of backing music in a comedy scene ever - the "Beating a Zombie to Death To The Strains Of Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now!'" scene. And Jasper Carrot's daughter playing thew fabulous Diane, who turned out to be not as stupid as she seemed. Not to mention that the female characters were all as well written as the men, and there were some lovely symbolifc moments too (like going through the record collection to throw things out - a sacred rite of passage for guys (c'mon, I know about High Fidelity, this isn't such a big secret to know), just in this case done to find ones to throw at the zombies)
Bad points? Not many. Like all zombie films/disaster movies, the big final attack took out the characters I found most interesting (namely Dianne), and I'm beginning to discover there *is* such a thing as the Guy Romantic Comedy, where Boy and Girl resolve their situation through some Big Event so they don't have to talk about Feelings or Actually Work Out Their Problems. Which in this case was the zombie attack.
But you've got to love a film where one of the characters finally does what all characters in a zombie film must be longing to do - look at the approaching zombies and shout 'Oh give us a *fucking break*!
And it's also quite clear to me that Jessica Stevenson's minor part is clearly the successor to Daisy from Spaced, just moved on. Likewise with Shaun and Tim.
So I advise everyone to go out and see this film. Even if you're American; you don't have to know who the actors are, and it's a damn sight more accurate about the British than Notting bloody Hill.
And while I'm pimping, go out and read all of 'My Faith in Frankie', a four part comic mini-series written by Mike Carey that just...will amaze, astound, and make some of y'all go 'squee!'. Even if you don't read comics, try to read this set, it rocks.
I went to see Shaun of the Dead today with a friend (guy but also great big geek so that's always fun) expecting to see a very good film.
Instead I saw a *fantastic* film.
I'll put in some spoiler space here for those of you who want to see it without knowing details.
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
S
P
A
C
E
No, really. It just...it transcends its genre. It's funny and horrible and scary and has some really intense pathos that had me tear up at least twice. And the performances were superb! Bill Nighy and Penelope Wilson were the acting heavyweights brought in for the pathos moments but the comedians were just as good - Simon Pegg does sadness so utterly brilliantly, and Nick Frost was great as the (frankly unlovable) Ed. And Dylan Moran got torn to pieces! Which was actually a really horrible moment and very well done, but also satisfying if you know some of the things I do about Mr Moran.
OK, actually it's was mostly just horrible, as it was meant to be. I'm actually humane at heart. No one deserves to get torn to pieces by zombies.
The direction was superb, with some brilliant tracking shots that just worked perfectly and some really cool zombies (I think nearly everyone who appears as an extra in the film normally turned up as a zombie). Plus, the greatest use of backing music in a comedy scene ever - the "Beating a Zombie to Death To The Strains Of Queen's 'Don't Stop Me Now!'" scene. And Jasper Carrot's daughter playing thew fabulous Diane, who turned out to be not as stupid as she seemed. Not to mention that the female characters were all as well written as the men, and there were some lovely symbolifc moments too (like going through the record collection to throw things out - a sacred rite of passage for guys (c'mon, I know about High Fidelity, this isn't such a big secret to know), just in this case done to find ones to throw at the zombies)
Bad points? Not many. Like all zombie films/disaster movies, the big final attack took out the characters I found most interesting (namely Dianne), and I'm beginning to discover there *is* such a thing as the Guy Romantic Comedy, where Boy and Girl resolve their situation through some Big Event so they don't have to talk about Feelings or Actually Work Out Their Problems. Which in this case was the zombie attack.
But you've got to love a film where one of the characters finally does what all characters in a zombie film must be longing to do - look at the approaching zombies and shout 'Oh give us a *fucking break*!
And it's also quite clear to me that Jessica Stevenson's minor part is clearly the successor to Daisy from Spaced, just moved on. Likewise with Shaun and Tim.
So I advise everyone to go out and see this film. Even if you're American; you don't have to know who the actors are, and it's a damn sight more accurate about the British than Notting bloody Hill.
And while I'm pimping, go out and read all of 'My Faith in Frankie', a four part comic mini-series written by Mike Carey that just...will amaze, astound, and make some of y'all go 'squee!'. Even if you don't read comics, try to read this set, it rocks.
If you like comics, 'Lucifer's Halo', a Dawn series by Joseph Michael Linsner.